Overview
Carl handles a diverse administrative and regulatory law practice with substantial expertise in electric energy and financial services. He represents clients before the Texas Legislature and state and local regulatory bodies, in agency rulemakings and contested case proceedings, in state and federal courts, and in corporate governance and transactional matters. Carl is chair of the Firm’s Electric Energy Practice Group.
Honors & Recognitions
- Chambers & Partners USA, Energy: State Regulatory & Litigation (Electricity) (2021-2025)
- Chambers & Partners USA, Up and Coming, Electric Energy (2019-2020)
- Texas Super Lawyers-Rising Stars, a Thomson Reuters service, General Litigation (2013-2018)
Community & Professional
- Austin Bar Association
Experience
Electric Energy
Carl represents electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and business interests before the Public Utility Commission of Texas and courts. He has assisted clients in matters involving applications for certificates of convenience and necessity (CCN), service area exceptions, service area disputes, retails rates and wholesale transmission service rates in ERCOT. Carl has served as lead counsel in numerous contested case hearings, including matters involving transmission lines, rate changes, and load transfers. He also assists the firm's clients on a variety of matters ranging from legislation, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, generation interconnections, data center loads, pole attachments, easements and business transactions.
Financial Services
As legal counsel to an association of regulated consumer lenders, Carl has broad knowledge of federal and state regulations governing consumer lending. His experience includes compliance with industry-related laws, privacy and data security regulations, and consumer protection regulations, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Dodd-Frank Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and various other regulations implemented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner and Texas Finance Commission. Carl has also represented clients in rulemaking proceedings and has litigation experience dealing with fair debt collection and privacy matters.
Health Law
Carl serves as legal counsel to an association of licensed dentists, giving him experience on a variety of healthcare matters. He represents clients at the Texas Legislature and before state agencies in rulemaking and compliance-related issues affecting the practice of dentistry.
Insights
McGinnis Insights
News
Education
Law Clerk, Supreme Court of Texas, 2005-2006
The University of Houston Law Center, J.D., 2005 (magna cum laude; Order of the Coif; Order of the Barons; Articles Editor, Houston Law Review)
The University of Texas at Austin, M.A., 2002 (with honors, Phi Beta Kappa)
Texas State University, B.S., 2000 (summa cum laude)
Bar admissions
- Texas
Court admissions
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas